Improved buckle



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DWIGHT L. SMITH, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WATERBURY BUCKLE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPR'OVED BUCKLE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,2111, dated June 13, 1865.

Tonll whom it may concern Be it known that I, DWIGHT L. SMITH, of the city of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Buckles or Clasps, as a new article of manufacture, and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full,

clear, and exact description of the construc-` tion, character, and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which make part of this specification, in

which-w Figure 1 is a perspective view of the buckle or clasp with the straps inserted as it will appear when in use. Fig.2 is a perspective view of the obverse side ot' the same when ready for use. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the reverse side of the same, showing the hinges and the ears or projections on which the broad or pinching end of the lever or tongue rests or is supported. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the lever or tongue as cut and ready to be at tached to the lrame. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the frame, showing the stationary parts ofthe hinges and the rests or projections.

My improvement consists in making the buckle or clasp of two pieces of sheet Inetal, cut with dies or swages, so that one will serve for a frame or bow and loop, containing the stationary parts of the hinges and the rests or supporters of the broad end of the lever, and the other for the lever or tongue, containing the movable parts or eyes of the hinges, and also the hook or anchor-shaped catch, which is to be attached or hooked into the standing part of the strap.

I make the frame a of the buckle or clasp substantially of the shape or form shown in Fig. 5 by swaging or cutting it from sheet metal, (or making it of any other suitable ma- Vand 5, to serve as rests or supports' to sustain the pressure of the lever or tongue when it is drawn down by the strap to buckle or fasten the article. I make the lever or tongue part of sheet metal by cutting or swaging it substantially of the shape or form shown in Fig. 4 andindicated iu Figs. 2 and 3, with an anchor-shaped hook or catch, as shown at e, Figs. 2, 3, and. 4, (or made of any other convenient shape,) to hook into the standing part f ot' the strap, Fig. 1, and a broad end, as shown at el, Figs. l, 2, 3, and 4, to pinch or press and hold the ruiming end gof the strap,

as shown in Fig. l. On the two sides, near the hook end c of this lever I, cut up two strips of suitabe length and width to form the eyes or moving parts of the hinges, as shown at lL h, Fig. 4, Where they appear ready to be bent down, as in Fig. 3. Having made the two pieces or parts, as before described, and shown in Figs. 4 and 5, I place the lever or tongue part in its place in the frame, and with a proper swage set down the strips h h, Fig. 4, around the projections b b, Fig. 5, so as to form or constitute hinges, as shown at h h, Fig. 3, when the buckle or clasp will be ready for use, and will appear on the obverse side as `shown in Fig. 2, and on the reverse side with the broad part of the lever resting against the projections or ears c c, as shown in Fig..3; and when the standing partf of the strap is passed onto the hook e and the running party passed through the bow at l and through the loop at m the whole will appear, as represented in Fig. l, as when in use.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent as a new article of manufacture, is-

The combination of the hinges l1l h with the ears and rests c c, on which the broad end d of the lever is supported, when the Whole is constructed, arranged, and fitted for use substantially as herein described and set forth.

DWIGHT L. SMITH.

Witnesses:

H. E. COPELEY, JOHN W. PAUL. 

